European shippers attack EU-liner pricing deal

According to Bruce Barnard, the European Shippers Council today claimed container lines’ recent commitments to the European Commission over general rate increase announcements “does not solve the price-fixing problem” that will particularly impact their small- and medium-sized customers.

European rivalry controllers not long ago shut a five-year test of the rate-setting practices of 14 sea transporters, for the most part on the Asia-Europe exchange, after they consented to make GRI declarations more straightforward to decrease the probability of value coordination.

The holder lines offered to quit distributed and conveying GRI declarations exclusively as a sum or rate of the change. Additionally, any future declarations will incorporate at any rate the five fundamental components of the aggregate cost — base rate, dugout charges, security charges, terminal taking care of charges and crest season extra charges. Value declarations will be considered as most extreme costs for the announced time of legitimacy and won't be made over 31 days before their entrance into power.

The responsibilities, which are legitimately official for a long time, come into power on December 7.

“By making the commitments recently offered by several container carriers legally binding, the European Commission has failed to take a global approach to a global issue,” the ESC said.

“Although this new model brings some more transparency to maritime pricing, it does not solve the price-fixing problem,” the Brussels-based ESC said.

The container lines’ commitments do not address shippers’ “serious” concern that the new model may allow carriers to explore each other’s pricing intentions and to coordinate their behavior.

“Compared to the previous practices of publishing GRIs, the new model still enables the liner operators to test their new price policy without incurring the risk of losing customers,” the ESC said.

Compartment lines can likewise screen regardless of whether they can sensibly actualize another value level and are additionally ready to decrease vital instability and the danger of losing intensity.

“Given that, announcements can be used as a tool for the parties to collectively pump up prices. Especially small- and medium-sized enterprises could be the victim of this practice,” the ESC said.